Flying Blind

[ImTempest]

My husband and I are (okay, really I'm the eager one, but he's on board with it!) really wanting to purchase a DVC membership. We've gone over the details, the payments, MF, picking a resort - everything, but I still can't answer this last question because I don't have access to the right info, and I'm hoping someone here can help.

We live in California. VGC is our closest resort. We are trying to determine if it is better to get fewer points, and hope for the best at the 11 month window? Or get a huge number of points at another resort and not waste time trying to get a studio here (which always seem to be gone right off the bat) and grab a two-bedroom instead.

I check on the availability lists on this board, and right now it says a two-bedroom at VGC is available any time in February. But without going to Member Services (which I can't yet, since I'm not an owner), I don't know if that's true or not. And all the points in the world won't get you a room if there isn't one. Any advice?

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I'm a little confused. Are you going to be able to book at 11 months or are you usually looking to book at 1-2 months out? If booking at 11 months you should not have much if any trouble getting a studio - especially if you have any sort of flexibility. If you are looking at short bookings then nothing may be available no matter how many points.

If a studio is what you prefer and you can book 11 months out that is what I would recommend purchasing although the larger accommodations are very nice!

 

[cmwade77]

We had a few points left that couldn't be banked and expire at the end of feb. so we booked a room for tomorrow night. We booked this about a week ago and it is a studio.

Honestly, it is best to buy what you can afford at the resort you will go to the most. We have 207 points and have two people, unless we are brining my family along, we don't really use all of the points, got to love being able to bank and borrow though.

 

[lions1995]

I think you are assuming that the 2 BR would be available at the 7 month mark. So you are thinking of buying into a cheaper resort and reserving at that 7 month mark. And you are also assuming that the studios are gone quickly at the 11 month mark. If that were true, I could understand the thought of buying more points at a cheaper resort to get the 2 BR, but I just looked at this resort from February through April and found very few days were 2 BR units (or any units for that fact) are avilable.

Best bet, buy where you want to stay. Get on line at 7 AM (EST) at teh 11 month mark to get your reservation.

 

[Deb & Bill]

My husband and I are (okay, really I'm the eager one, but he's on board with it!) really wanting to purchase a DVC membership. We've gone over the details, the payments, MF, picking a resort - everything, but I still can't answer this last question because I don't have access to the right info, and I'm hoping someone here can help.

We live in California. VGC is our closest resort. We are trying to determine if it is better to get fewer points, and hope for the best at the 11 month window? Or get a huge number of points at another resort and not waste time trying to get a studio here (which always seem to be gone right off the bat) and grab a two-bedroom instead.

I check on the availability lists on this board, and right now it says a two-bedroom at VGC is available any time in February. But without going to Member Services (which I can't yet, since I'm not an owner), I don't know if that's true or not. And all the points in the world won't get you a room if there isn't one. Any advice?

The availability board doesn't really tell you what is available, only what might not be available. It depends on DVC members entering information when they try to make a reservation. And with members being able to book online now, I'd bet a lot don't enter the information on that board much.

VGC are difficult to get if you don't own there, especially for any length of time. So unless you plan to visit WDW a lot, I'd look for VGC points (and they might only be available directly from DVC because DVC buys most of those points back under ROFR).

 

[wbl2745]

You mentioned just getting a smaller number of points, planning on getting a studio at the VGC. We've gotten really spoiled and really like at least the one bedroom. It is so nice to have the extra room, a real kitchen. Even if we don't feel like going to the parks we have a lovely place to relax. Also, we've had a lot of fun inviting people to come with us. We don't feel that we have to, it has just been a fun thing to do. Before you get just enough points for a studio, I'd think about getting enough to bring people with you. That said, I'd never purchase more than I could afford.

The second point is to buy where you want to stay. We live in Utah, so DLR is closest. We're really happy with our VGC points.

 

[ImTempest]

Thank you so much for all the info. Our vacations aren't usually planned. We live about 90 miles from DLR and have annual passes, so sometimes we'll plan to spend a lot of time there; other times we just say "Let's go to Disneyland tomorrow", but would like to stay the night. Our preference is for a one or two-bedroom, as opposed to a studio, since we have an 11 year old son. We are also planning several trips to WDW over the next few years, and we have extended family we would like to invite along.

We have $25000 for the buy-in. We could get 263 points at VGC at $95/pt. (resale), or 439 points at OKW at $57/pt. (also resale). The MF for either one are both within budget: $94.80 monthly for VGC vs. $190.36 for OKW. My husband's question is, since we will probably never take advantage of the 11-month window anyway, why not get more points for the money? I have heard a lot of people say they go spur of the moment to WDW all the time, and have no trouble getting a room at one of the DVC's. Does anybody here ever do spur of the moment at VGC with no trouble? Time of year is not an issue - in fact, we really like this time of year, as DLR is less crowded.

 

[jel0511]

I think you're going to be VERY disappointed in availability at VGC on short notice. If that is your intended use, you're going to find LIMITED availability. I just did a quick check using the online system and there is NO studios available for all of Feb and the 1br was only available for 2/27 and the 2 br was available only 2/26 and 2/27. For VGC you really need to plan in advance, there are only 50'ish (forget exact number) total villas there. I was able to snag a 2 br at 7 months, but I had to call at exactly 9AM and pray for that one!!!! There are many more villas at WDW, so it's easier to find something. for example could find a studio at SSR for any night the first two weeks of Feb, but once you get into President's weekend, there is no availability ANYWHERE on property. DVC is not intended for those who plan on booking on short notice, and really requires advance planning to get the most out of it.

 

[a742246]

For me, I wouldn't chance buying a non GCV villa if I were you. It sounds like you will be staying most of the time in DL. That said the slogan "Buy where you want to stay" definately applies to you.

Now if you can not make long term reservations, I believe DVC may not be for you. GCV is a high demand resort in a very populated and popular area so unless you can make a 11 month commitment you may be shut out.

I love my DVC membership and I think the world of it but it may not be for you.

 

[Technosavant]

DVC is not intended for those who plan on booking on short notice, and really requires advance planning to get the most out of it.

There's a lot of truth here. The more planning you can give, the better your results. The two times we've tried to book on short notice (both times about a month out, if that), we've come up with less than desirable stays (more points than desired, not as many nights as we'd like).

WDW has more opportunities than DLR (since you have six resorts to try instead of just one), but even those can be surprisingly full inside of four to eight weeks out.

If you can't plan well in advance, you might be best off taking the money you'd be putting into DVC and using it for regular stays. You won't be paying any maintenance fees either.

DVC is great, but it just isn't for everybody; your intended pattern of use seems to fall outside the parameters that make for a good experience.

 

[chalee94]

Our vacations aren't usually planned. I have heard a lot of people say they go spur of the moment to WDW all the time, and have no trouble getting a room at one of the DVC's...

per the DVC resource center (see the stickied thread), VGC has a maximum of 71 rooms available.

the smallest wdw DVC resort (VWL) has a maximum of 181 rooms available... SSR, OKW and AKV have close to 3,000 rooms available just between those 3 resorts.

i'd agree with the others that you'd almost certainly find DVC (or most any other timeshare) very frustrating.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

DVC is great, but it just isn't for everybody; your intended pattern of use seems to fall outside the parameters that make for a good experience.

I agree with this. Last minute booking is a little easier at WDW b/c there are more resorts but DL only has GCV and that is a very small DVC.

The other problem is if you purchase resale you are not able to use the points for stays in the Disney collection which is an option I have done when GCV was not available but I wanted to make a last minute trip to DL. Only a direct purchase will allow that and that is of course at a greater cost both at buy in and also in the points required to stay at the DL hotels. And they are only going up higher. I've also never been lucky at getting a last minute reservation that was truly at the time I wanted. It's more like a question of are there any 2-3 consecutive nights available in the next 60 days sort of thing and that hasn't been real successful either.

Purchasing DVC for last minute trips to DL I firmly believe will only be frustrating. If you can change your habits and book use DVC during the home resort priority period for booking you would be much happier and then if you were extremely lucky you might get to use it sporadically for a last minute night or two. And of course use it for stays at WDW.

 

[bwvBound]

San Diego, chiming in:

When VGC was first announced, we thought we wanted to buy points there. After more thought, we determined it would not truly serve our travel pattern. While we can and do plan far ahead for trips to WDW, our trips to DLR are usually very short notice. Outside of D23 events, why "plan" DLR more than a few weeks out?

Historically, we had been successful booking Grand Cal hotel units using our SSR points prior to the Villas being built -- but failed every try to book GC Villas when phoning in.

However since online reservations (new as of 1/19/2012) -- I've been able to successfully find weekends in various unit types that would work for us (each short notice). What I wasn't able to accomplish over the phone -- is working with better results through the online reservation tool.

Reason: By phone, I'd pick the dates first then try to find unit(s) to fit our dates. Using the online system, I stalk inventory over periods of weeks and then match available inventory to dates to our calendar. It is much easier to make my calendar work around available inventory than vice versa.

Add me to your husband's approach: More points ... but w/out home resort advantage. Plan to stalk inventory (an addicting way to pass time!) ... and be flexible on your dates and unit types.

Wishing you much happiness in your research!
- bwvBound (who doesn't subscribe to the "buy where you want to stay" mantra)

Thank you so much for all the info. Our vacations aren't usually planned. We live about 90 miles from DLR and have annual passes, so sometimes we'll plan to spend a lot of time there; other times we just say "Let's go to Disneyland tomorrow", but would like to stay the night. Our preference is for a one or two-bedroom, as opposed to a studio, since we have an 11 year old son. We are also planning several trips to WDW over the next few years, and we have extended family we would like to invite along.

We have $25000 for the buy-in. We could get 263 points at VGC at $95/pt. (resale), or 439 points at OKW at $57/pt. (also resale). The MF for either one are both within budget: $94.80 monthly for VGC vs. $190.36 for OKW. My husband's question is, since we will probably never take advantage of the 11-month window anyway, why not get more points for the money? I have heard a lot of people say they go spur of the moment to WDW all the time, and have no trouble getting a room at one of the DVC's. Does anybody here ever do spur of the moment at VGC with no trouble? Time of year is not an issue - in fact, we really like this time of year, as DLR is less crowded.

 

[bwvBound]

DVC is great, but it just isn't for everybody; your intended pattern of use seems to fall outside the parameters that make for a good experience.

Good point!

Again, from San Diego perspective ... we find our Worldmark timeshare to be a far better tool than DVC for much of our travel.

 

[Sandisw]

I have to agree with others that last minute and DVC do not work well together and given the size of VGC, I think it would be even worse.

While people have planned last minute trips to WDW and gotten something, I think its more the exception than the rule, or they are doing a few nights at one resort, moving to another, etc. But, as mentioned, there are 7 DVC resorts on property--that means a lot of choices and chances for more last minute availability.

At VGC, you are going to be very limited. I do agree that if you are not going to take advantage of the 11 month booking period, then where you own is less important because at 7 months out, all things are equal.

However, if you are not even talking about booking at that mark but more like a few months out. then DVC may not be a good choice.

My suggestion would be to try to rent a reservation from someone for one of your last minute trips and see how it goes.

As already mentioned, the availability board is not about showing what is there, but rather a place for those that find things booked to post that. So, no report simply means that no one has reported any information --booked or available--for that date.

 

[ImTempest]

bwvBound, that actually sounds exactly like how we would go - a little lurking on the schedule, find the time, and presto we're there. Also, Sandisw, try before we buy isn't a bad idea either. That would work the same way, right? We rent the points from someone, then find a date that works and they make the ressie?

I think we may buy at BLT in any case. That's the resort my husband likes best, and we will be going to WDW enough over the next few years to make it a financially reasonable decision. Thanks for all your help!

 

[Deb & Bill]

...We rent the points from someone, then find a date that works and they make the ressie?...

If you don't own the points, they are worthless to you. You purchase a reservation that the member made with their points. So you don't rent points. You tell a member where and when you want to go. They look to see if it is available, if it is, they book it and you pay them. If it isn't they go back to square one.

But if you are not a member, there is no way you can find out what is available.

 

[ImTempest]

Oh, that's so frustrating!

One more question about how it all works...say I go ahead and buy at BLT, since this is pretty much a given. Either online or through MS, I can look and see what's available at that resort. At 11 months out, I can book for that resort for what's available. At 7 months, will I be able to tell what's available at any other DVC resort?

 

[jel0511]

Oh, that's so frustrating!

One more question about how it all works...say I go ahead and buy at BLT, since this is pretty much a given. Either online or through MS, I can look and see what's available at that resort. At 11 months out, I can book for that resort for what's available. At 7 months, will I be able to tell what's available at any other DVC resort?

correct!